Business leaders in Houston are looking to cut costs and preserve cash flow, as always, but especially now during our current period of economic uncertainty. Typically, the biggest cost for your business is the HR spend of employee payroll and benefits, so it makes sense to evaluate options in the marketplace and make changes that keep expenses down but also support the health and choices of your people. Make smart HR spend decisions.
One approach that is not as widely known, but gaining momentum is the one we, at Achilles Group, began a few years ago. It’s radical, and requires a mindset shift away from the traditional large carrier plans that hold businesses hostage with significant rate increases year over year. But the payoff has been higher quality healthcare, better and easier communication directly with physicians and healthcare providers, and reduced plan spend.
What if you were in control of cost and benefit plan design? What could that do for not only your business, but your peace of mind as a leader?
It all started for us with a recommended book by our benefits advisor and then an introduction to an industry-disruptive employee health and wellness philosophy. Our advisor explained that a change to this employer-managed health care plan is a crawl-walk-run approach and requires education and strategic planning with a deeply allied benefits advisor. The book that started this trajectory for Achilles Group is The CEO’s Guide to Restoring the American Dream by Dave Chase. And the group that leads the education is called Health Rosetta. The main takeaway is that instead of your premiums rising each year through a traditional large carrier plan, an employer designed and managed plan can be created. In such a plan a direct primary care provider and a network of specialists, facilities (hospitals and surgical centers) are established to include ancillary services (such as imaging, labs). Your business could see 20%-40% reductions in employee health plan spend, improve the quality of care received, and provide a better employee experience. However, this approach is a little more difficult for businesses with many remote employees in different states. But as providers learned how to deliver healthcare through the COVID-19 pandemic, there is the realization that many primary care services can be covered well through telemedicine.
If your business is with a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) and growing beyond 25 employees, your first step to cut costs and gain better service is to make decisions about your HR spend; evaluate unbundling HR, payroll, and benefits. We have guided many businesses in Houston through exiting a PEO structure to gain cost control and flexibility in employee health plans, payroll services, and HR effectiveness. But you must start the process 4-6 months ahead of the plan switch to get a team of service providers together, gather specific data, and create and execute an employment transition plan successfully.
Bottom line: it’s worth a conversation to take a look at options and alternatives for your biggest expense: your HR spend.
To hear self-funded, employer managed case studies: click here.
If you are curious about options in the marketplace or our journey here at Achilles on how we transitioned to an employer-managed, rich benefits plan that reduces our overall benefits HR spend, we are happy to share our story and resources with you.
Contact us
website: http://www.achillesgroup.com
phone: 281-469-1800. We would love to hear from you.
